“No. I'm fine,” I said, standing. “I just remembered that I left my history text in my room and I... I need that for class. I better go.”
“Okay, then. I'll . . . see you later?” he asked, lifting himself out of his chair, ever the gentleman.
“Sure. Yes. Definitely,” I said.
But even as I shoved my way out into the sunshine, I was formulating a plan. There had to be a way for me to get to the Legacy without Whittaker. There just had to be.
175
PRE-?PARTY
That evening I paused outside Noelle and Ariana's room. I had just heard voices coming from inside and had automatically stopped to listen. It was a reflex. Now that I knew the extent of their secrets, part of me was dying to uncover more. But I couldn't make out anything other than murmurs and laughter, and then I remembered I was here to ask a favor. Eavesdropping was probably not the best way to endear myself. I straightened up, steeled myself, and knocked.
“Entrez!” Noelle announced.
Inside the lights were dim and candles flickered on every available surface, filling the air with their musky scents. Noelle, Ariana, Kiran, and Taylor were all gathered in a circle in their pajamas and robes. Taylor sat in one of the desk chairs, pulled close to Ariana's bed, while the others were seated on the mattress. Ariana held up a wineglass and Kiran tipped a bottle over it, filling it with deep red liquid.
“Reed! So good to see you!” Noelle trilled. “Come! Have wine! We're playing I Never.”
176
I Never. These girls had nothing better to do than play I Never? On a weeknight? Shouldn't they be reading or writing papers or perhaps plotting to have someone else booted out of school? Behind me, in Ariana's closet, I could feel the presence of the trunk and the computer as if they had been dipped in radioactive waste and were now throbbing brightly like a beacon, mocking me. Reminding me of what I had done. What I knew.
“I never . . . got drunk and bribed my father's pilot to fly me to Rome so I could have real pasta!” Taylor announced.
“Oh!” Noelle cheered.
Kiran clucked her tongue. “No fair getting so specific!” she said, then downed half her wine.
Her father had a pilot. Her father had a pilot who would fly to Rome on a moment's notice.
“Come on, Reed! What have you never done?” Noelle asked mirthfully.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about something,” I said.
“Not until you give us an I never,'” Ariana said, her eyes gleaming.
Great. Nothing like being put on the spot. I racked my brain for something, anything, that wouldn't make me sound totally lame.
“I never . . . had sex in a car,” I said finally.
Noelle spit out a laugh and drank the rest of her wine, as did Kiran and Taylor, laughing the whole way. Ariana, however, just smiled.
177
“Really, Ariana?” Kiran asked, nonplussed. “Not even a limo? They can be very comfortable.”
“I'm gonna start calling you Prude,” Noelle put in.
Ariana simply sighed, as if this was all just too pedestrian, and set her glass aside. “What's going on, Reed?”
“Nothing. It's just. . . it's about the Legacy.”
A mutual look was exchanged between the four of them. “Pull up a chair,” Kiran said, lifting the wine bottle.
I crossed over to Noelle's desk chair, cleared about ten c
ashmere, silk, and angora sweaters onto her bed, and carried the chair over. As I settled in, I had their full attention. This was odd.